Legislative Update for Week Ending April 21, 2017

Legislative Update for Week Ending April 21, 2017

This week, lawmakers remained in their home states and districts to finish the two-week spring recess.

Spring Recess Continues

This week, lawmakers in the House and Senate remained in their home states and districts for the remainder of the two-week spring recess. Both chambers are scheduled to be back in session by Tuesday, April 25th.

Until then, many Members of Congress will be holding town hall meetings to address the questions and concerns of their constituents. TSCL encourages its members and supporters to attend these town halls and to ask questions of their elected officials about important Social Security and Medicare issues, like the following four…

1. Surveys show a majority of Americans would like to see an increase in the Social Security payroll tax, but a new tax reform proposal would eliminate the 12.4 percent payroll tax altogether. This would end Social Security as we know it and transform it into a welfare program for older Americans. Do you support this drastic new proposal?
2. Most Americans contribute 6.2 percent of every paycheck to Social Security, but due to the payroll tax cap, people earning more than $127,200 contribute nothing over that amount. Do you support legislation like the newly-introduced Social Security 2100 Act (H.R. 1902), which would extend the solvency of the program by requiring millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share?
3. The federal government negotiates prescription drug prices for Medicaid and for veterans, but it is not allowed to negotiate lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries. Do you support this policy?
4. If the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) were based on a more accurate measure of inflation for seniors, beneficiaries would not be receiving a record-low 0.3% increase this year. They would be receiving an increase of 2.1% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Do you support legislation that would base the COLA on a more accurate inflation index like the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly?

To see if your Members of Congress will be holding town hall meetings in the final days of the spring recess, click HERE or call their local offices. You can find contact information HERE.

Quick Links

Mission Statement

With more than one million supporters, The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) is one of the nation’s largest nonpartisan seniors groups. Our mission is to promote and assist TSCL members and supporters, to educate and alert senior citizens about their rights and freedoms as U.S. citizens, and to protect and defend the benefits earned and paid for by senior citizens.